National News Update

The DeWitt Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund has given a $1.66-million
grant to the National Society for Internships and Experiential
Education to further develop local service-learning programs for
high-school students.

The organization, a coalition of groups committed to "learning
through experience," will use the funds over five years to provide
direct technical assistance to at least 500 high schools, most of them
in urban areas; offer leadership training to at least 355 teachers and
educators involved in service programs; and identify and disseminate
the best service-learning models.

The 45 teachers and principals who are named DeWitt Wallace-Reader's
Digest fellows will also receive training and mini-grants under the
program.

In service-learning programs, students complete needed tasks in
their communities, and afterward write and talk about their
activities.

A total of 2,361,000 babies were born in the first seven months of this
year, a decrease of 2 percent from the number reported for the first
seven months of 1990, according to data compiled by the National Center
for Health Statistics. During the same period, the birth rate declined
from 16.6 live births per 1,000 population to 16.1 births, a chop of 3
percent. The fertility rate for the period--8.9 live births per 1,000
women ages 15 to 44 was also 3 percent lower than that of the
comparable period in 1990, when the figure was 70.8 births.

The figures marked a slowdown in the number of births nationwide,
which generally have increased steadily over the past five years.

Some demographers and economists have attributed the decrease to
concerns about the lingering economic recession. .

Vol. 11, Issue 11, Page 2

Notice: We recently upgraded our comments. (Learn more here.) If you are logged in as a subscriber or registered user and already have a Display Name on edweek.org, you can post comments. If you do not already have a Display Name, please create one here.

Ground Rules for Posting
We encourage lively debate, but please be respectful of others. Profanity and personal attacks are prohibited. By commenting, you are agreeing to abide by our user agreement.
All comments are public.